Forest and Stream, January 31, 1914
Defects of Proposed Virginia Law
Natural resources -- Conservation - GameTourists and sportsmen -- Field sports - Trespass
FALLS CHURCH, VA., Jan. 22. 1914.
Editor Forest and Stream:
On page 91, of your issue of January 17, you were good enough to print a letter concerning the proposed Hart-White Game Bill that is to be introduced during the present session of the Virginia Legislature. Now as a native of Virginia and an ornithologist with quite a number of years' training, I would like to criticize the proposed bill.
1. The Game Commissioner is to be appointed by the Governor. As the sportsmen of the state are to pay his salary, should not they have a voice in his selection, by the ballot? Therefore should not the office be made an elective one as in Alabama, the model?
2. The fee of five dollars per annum for a certificate to collect birds, etc., for scientific purposes is excessive. It should not be over one dollar, as in nearly all states with this provision in the law, even in Alabama, and recommended in the Audubon Model Law.
3. Make the gunner's license uniform throughout the state, not have a county and state license.
4. Owners, landlords, and tenants should not be allowed to hunt even on their own lands without a license. To permit them to do so would be in violation of Art. I, Sect. 4, of the State Constitution.
5. Shorten the open season on upland game and make it uniform and not allow counties the power to change it at will. I would suggest November 15, to January 1, as the open season on this class of game.
6. Prohibit the use of automatic and repeating shot guns.
7. Shooting wild-fowl from a sail or power boat should be prohibited.
8. In the proposed bill, hunting upon the lands of another without written permission is made a misdemeanor for which the offender can be arrested and prosecuted by the game warden. It seems that this is not necessary as the trespass laws in force now cover the case sufficiently. Even in the more populous parts of the state there are usually considerable wild lands, not posted, that have always been free hunting grounds to the citizens of the vicinity. In my locality some of this class of property is owned by non-residents of the state who have never taken the trouble to post their lands and presumably do not care about the shooting privileges as long as their property is not damaged. It would be a physical impossibility to obtain written permission and the game warden would know it and could act accordingly, even without the owner's knowledge. It would be a source of revenue to him as he would receive a fee equal to half the fine collected. Where is the poor man to hunt that only gets off for a few days during the season? He cannot afford to purchase shooting rights or belong to a club for only a few days' hunting, and unless he is acquainted with a large land owner he will have to abandon this form of recreation or become a law-breaker. This provision will be fine for large land-owners or clubs, I will admit, as it makes the game warden a trespass officer whose salary is paid by the sportsmen. I cannot see the justice of protecting game from one class of citizens to be shot by a more fortunate class. No, let the game warden look after the game and its protection and not make trespass officers of them.
9. Nothing is said about the depredations of the domestic cat, though it does almost as much to keep down the increase of game as shooting.
My advice is for every sportsman in the state to get a copy of this "Proposed Bill from M. D. Hart, Times-Dispatch Building, Richmond, Va.," read it carefully and if it meets with his approval well and good, but if not write to his state Senator, or see him personally.
J. H. RILEY.
VIRGINIA GAME LAWS.
Natural resources -- Conservation - GameSea -- Market hunting
Before a joint assembly of the house of delegates and the senate, in the chamber of the house, John H. Wallace, state game commissioner of Alabama, made an address in behalf of the conservation of game in Virginia. The general assembly suspended business for half an hour.
Mr. Wallace spoke of the early settlers of the country and the tremendous amount of game and fish that was to be found, and declared that on account of its abundance, it was not thought necessary to conserve these tremendous resources. The wholesale slaughter which has taken place for years, he stated, has all but wiped out many valuable species of game.
"Deer, wild turkey, quail and other game are rapidly disappearing, by reason of the negligence of the different states to protect the wild things," declared Mr. Wallace. He also showed that it is not a question so much of the bird itself, but the aid the farmer derives from them. He estimated that a loss of over $100,000,000 was sustained by the farmers through this source each year.
Mr. Wallace declared it was impossible to enforce the local laws and that to put them on the statute books was a failure unless the game department was under one head, who was given the power to enforce the law. He told of his success in Alabama with the game laws and how his department had increased annually since the placing of a license on the huntsman, of how the revenues had increased, although the department had not derived a cent by appropriation.
Mr. Wallace estimated that over 50,000 birds were shipped out of Virginia annually by pot-hunters and advocated the passage of laws prohibiting shipment of game. Commissioner Wallace's opinions deserve more than passing attention, because of the wonders he has worked in Alabama game laws and conservation.